Theatreview Weekly: 11/10/11

A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including Shine Lady, The Butcher and the Bear, The Little Jester, and The Truth Game.

See more recent reviews at theatreview.org, the NZ Performing Arts Review & Directory.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - RHYS MATHEWSON: Energetic youthful take on complex issues

- reviewed by Melisa Martin

His routine for the Basement Fest 2011 sees Mathewson charm his way through an hour of anecdotes that take us back to the good ol’ days, when singing the New Zealand national anthem, drunk, on a curb in Scotland could have been one of our finer moments.

------------------------------------------------------------------

BATS, Wellington - THE NZ IMPROV FESTIVAL 2011: Something of value will always materialise before our very eyes

- reviewed by John Smythe

My spontaneous response to the opening night of this year’s NZ Improv Festival at Bats is that the must-see show, so far, is Rebecca De Unamuno is… OPEN TO SUGGESTION, and there is only one more chance, on Friday 14 October (8pm). More on her una muno ...

------------------------------------------------------------------

Middleton Grange School Performing Arts Centre, Christchurch - SHINE LADY BY SPINNING SUN: Gestures and images that trigger the imagination

- reviewed by Julia McKerrow

Shine Lady is a dance in 16 parts, each of which has its own defined themes, rules, movements, narrative and music. I love Dewey’s wild use of music, which differs from some popular contemporary dance choices. Her mix of classical, rock and gypsy/world tunes adds unexpected dynamic change to the piece. At times the music strongly contrasts the movement quality and then elsewhere she layers the dancing and themes with evocative and exotic music

------------------------------------------------------------------

Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge, Auckland - THE BUTCHER AND THE BEAR: Theatre to delight the most discerning young audience

- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

Magic gypsy soup features prominently along with those reliable staples of children’s theatre, the chases, animals personified, mysterious musicians, chanting, clapping and a dollop of ‘he’s behind you’.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Fortune Theatre, Dunedin - THE LITTLE JESTER: Pure theatrical enchantment

- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

“Dance! Or all will be lost...”

How very true, and what a pity we have to wait for the school holidays to be reminded of it! This charming show ...

------------------------------------------------------------------

Fortune Theatre, Dunedin - THE TRUTH GAME: Truth will out in newspaper game

- reviewed by Barbara Frame

“Chad who?” asks Belinda. She doesn’t know that Chad is a country. A “Group Strategy Leader” for an international media company, she uses words like “synergies” and “paradigms,” and is keen on “giving our customers what they want to read.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

Circa Two, Wellington - SPACED OUT!: A bit too predetermined?

- reviewed by John Smythe

The premise of this Spaced Out Improvisors holiday show is that Captain Bob is rocketing off to some planet or other but his Mother is preparing his birthday party and he’ll be in trouble if he’s not back in time.

------------------------------------------------------------------

BATS, Wellington - THERETHERE: There.... There....

- reviewed by Greer Robertson

This is Francis’ personal history of his life thus far and his intention is to lead the audience into his story, creating, transforming, constructing and deconstructing. A world, he suggests, is to be observed in detail.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Opera House, Wellington - AROHANUI – THE GREATEST LOVE: Maori tale of trust and treachery enthuses crowd

- reviewed by Jennifer Shennan

Te Matatini, national organising body for the biennial Maori Performing Arts Festival, has embarked on a new adventure with Arohanui. The production is epic in size and scope, sound and visuals, a choreographed cross between rock-opera and dance-drama.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Thistle Hall, Wellington - SOUL OF THE BEAST - ANIMA DELLA BESTIA: Raw manifestations of human nature

- reviewed by Fiona McNamara

A compelling text, paired with skillful movement made for a thought-provoking piece.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q, 305 Queen St, Auckland - OUT OF THE BOX - HIPHOP SHOWCASE: Aotearoa's hip hop artists - motivated, innovative and unique

- reviewed by Tia Reihana

It was a great show...energetic, entertaining, subtle, smooth, different, experimental and positive. Out of Box, was out of my expectations and stereo types. Most importantly it achieved the goals of curator Joshua Martin in presenting the creative talents of hip hop artists and the diverse depth of New Zealand dance.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - WEG: A-WAY: Priceless performance

- reviewed by Paul Young

This is one of the most successful engagements between performer and audience I have ever seen. It really works. Wilson manoeuvres us to fulfil her provocation rather gently and we respond warmly. Hold hands? Ok! Write on your naked body? Sure! At times friendly and funny, she is also crafty, and tricks us into ever-greater degrees of complicity.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Memorial Theatre, Victoria University, Wellington - SHREE KRISHNA LEELA: Eyes dart, bodies sway, hearts swell, they adore - we adore!

- reviewed by Greer Robertson

The star of the show is Vivek Kinra himself. His ability to display authentic classical dance moves with such fluidity and seamless grace is second to none. Successfully obtaining a reputation for professional excellence in all that he does both nationally and internationally, Vivek Kinra, undisputedly brings a rich and complex art form to life. The love duo portrayed by Balagurunathan and Kinra is truly enchanting and very charming.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Fortune Theatre, Dunedin - THE TRUTH GAME: Myriad issues insightfully explored in slick and gripping production

- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

Cunliffe’s play, his first, is born of his own experience ... and it has a distinctly autobiographical feel. And that is what makes The Truth Game special: it is an insight into an intriguing, challenging world, delivered with wit and authenticity.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - GIRL WITH A MOVIE CAMERA: A sweet homage to Vertov’s work

- reviewed by Jack Gray

Legs, close-ups, faces, eyes, moving swiftly into and out of the frame. One effective yet also obvious scene, revolved around a play of shadow light and the interaction between the shadows increasing/decreasing in size – much like some type of puppet show. The lighting by Josh Bond was spot on, clean, clear and with enough light and dark to not detract from the audio-visual component.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Opera House, Wellington - AROHANUI – THE GREATEST LOVE: Wielding staves and ferocious masculinity

- reviewed by Greer Robertson

Months of hard work, thought and collaboration has gone into this ground breaking show as the Te Matatini Society’s dream becomes a reality.

------------------------------------------------------------------

4 Moncrieff St., Mt. Victoria, Wellington - THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE: Brains v speed gets a fresh run – plus ‘guess my gripe’

- reviewed by John Smythe

It’s all over in 10 minutes. After much amusing messing about from the delightfully musical narrators – Asalemo Tofete and James Tito – who mash up the classic fable with blow-hard wolves, red-hooded girls, absent bears and lost glass slippers until the young audience puts them right, the simple and salutary tale of The Hare and The Tortoise is finally told in a few well-chosen words.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Middleton Grange School Performing Arts Centre, Christchurch - HOMELAND: Everybody should see this show

- reviewed by Kate Sullivan

It is the relationships between the dancers that make this show stand out. The dancers use various ways of connecting, lifting and supporting each other throughout. It is evident that the strong and supportive community that Jolt operates within is integral to the group’s success. Themes of resilience and community spirit resonate within these relationships. Albeit simple, the act of two pairs of dancers slowly walking off stage hand in hand pulls the heartstrings of the audience.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q, 305 Queen St, Auckland - BODY FIGHT TIME: A work of substance, posing questions and engaging the mind

- reviewed by Jenny Stevenson

Malia Johnston and her co-director Emma Willis have constructed the scenarios for maximum visual impact, using designer John Verryt’s versatile set and projected imagery created by Rowan Pierce – together with the innovative lighting design of Brad Gledhill. The result is that many of the depictions become imprinted on the brain - serving as reference points for other sections of the work.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Opera House, Wellington - AROHANUI – THE GREATEST LOVE: No classical opera has ever provoked my awareness of self-inflicted tragedy so profoundly

- reviewed by John Smythe

“Stuff the opera, give these guys the money,” I heard someone say in the buzzing Opera House foyer after the show. Well, it shouldn’t be an either/or choice. But there is no doubt that Arohanui – The Greatest Love is simultaneously more profound yet populist than classical opera or ballet is these days in New Zealand ...

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - SHAMELESS CROWD PLEASER: A mutating theatrical experience

- reviewed by Karen Barbour

.... a mere 15 or so minutes into the performance, all expectations seem to have fled the theatre, and the performers are left to the activity of producing a show – unknown in content – but nevertheless a show! They are committed throughout, enthusiastically following even the craziest ideas to conclusion and delivering an emotionally charged performance in which moments of happy brilliance meet with unexpected contortions and a veritable cacophony of sound.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - MAN BITS: Emotionally insightful and visually creative multilayered comedy

- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Man Bits is a curious and highly entertaining piece of work, examining in some detail all things penile and masculine through humour, drama, song and knitwear.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - PRIME CUTS 2011: Choreographers in their prime, with a touch of humour

- reviewed by Jenny Stevenson

There is little doubt that the selected choreographers in this programme are in their prime – and that they for the most part, make the cut - as far as delivering work that is stimulating and invigorating. What gives the programme its edge, however, is that all of the choreographers have chosen to employ a degree of humour in their work – ranging from the sardonic, through to slapstick - with many variations in between.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Hopetoun Alpha, Auckland - THE ANGEL AND THE BELOVED: Illuminating entrancement

- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

There’s an old theatre adage that performance starts where memory leaves off and this in nowhere better illustrated than in this fine boutique production.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q, 305 Queen St, Auckland - HULLAPOLLOI : FOOTNOTE FORTE 2011: A New Creation Myth

- reviewed by Dr Linda Ashley

If aliens landed tomorrow and saw this piece of dance theatre they could be forgiven for believing it is Planet Earth’s creation myth.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Maidment, Auckland - BLACK GRACE: VERSE 2: Celebrating the vitality and strength of dance

- reviewed by Roxanne de Bruyn

Black Grace’s much anticipated production, Verses 2, is a dynamic and vibrant joining of Pacific and contemporary dance.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Bodega, Wellington - ZOMBURLESQUE: Very out there

- reviewed by Greer Robertson

Blissfully and unashamedly, I am happy to report that it is refreshing to finally see a show that is on the right track albeit bizarrely entwined with a humorous pseudo sickness, as straight in your face, no holes barred, with blatant reference to decaying corpses and zombies.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - TERTIARY COLOURS SHOWCASE: A Spectrum of Intent

- reviewed by Dr Linda Ashley

The eleven dances on show this year beg the question: “How to respond to choreographies that emanate from different teaching/learning models?” Another tricky issue for reviewers and audience is appreciation of student work juxtaposed with that of lecturing staff and other professionals. All in all this mix calls for a considerable amount of discerning political and aesthetic thinking. What kind of teaching/learning intentions may we see working in Tertiary Colours?

------------------------------------------------------------------

Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - CRIMS: Indivisibly stellar

- reviewed by Adey Ramsel

Once again Thomas Sainsbury has proved he can hit an audience’s funny bone. Not a tit and bum gag in sight, just acute observation, smart one-liners and finely drawn characters.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Studio 77, VUW, Wellington - BIG LOVE: Ancient ragbag gets makeover

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

First performed in 2000 in the United States, Big Love is a weird, tragic-comic ragbag of a play adapted from the oldest play in the Western world, The Suppliants byAeschylus. The Danaid Tetralogy, of which The Suppliants is the only surviving play, won for Aeschylus in 463 B.C. first prize in a dramatic contest; Sophocles came second.

------------------------------------------------------------------

See more recent reviews at theatreview.org.nz, the NZ Performing Arts Review & Directory

Further information:

What began as a glorified blog by John Smythe has now become a major organ of communication, interaction and information that has created an online performing arts community by recording, critiquing, celebrating and debating NZ’s professional performing arts activity.

If you value Theatreview, and want to see it survive and grow to further serve the interests and needs of the performing arts community and their audiences, please join the Performing Arts Directory or offer a donation/koha.